In the 1920s-60s, WTAG and the Telegram were the same entity. The NEW marriage would be an ISP. For instance, worcester needs Internet provided by companies other than Charter, Verizon etc. So why not a newspaper company?

epb, I think a newspaper being an ISP provider is an interesting idea. I believe the fundamental difficulty with getting people to pay for online news is they are, in a way, already paying for it — they pay for the Internet it is delivered on. The only problem is the newspaper doesn’t get any of that revenue. The problem with getting people to subscribe online is akin to a cable station asking you to pay to watch when you’re already paying for your cable. In some cases, you can do that. Public television does this. But you’ve really got to put forward something that people feel passionate about and will pay extra for. For most people, local news may not reach this level of value — until it’s gone.